


Catradora can have little a family; as a treat

by ExtremeEly23



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Family, Fluff, They're moms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24269020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtremeEly23/pseuds/ExtremeEly23
Summary: Post-canon. Adora and Catra building a life and family for themselves following the fall of Horde Prime. Catra is a natural mom, Adora is always frazzled, baby is cute, water is wet.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 416





	1. The Murdering Phase

Perched on a windowsill on the 3rd story of Bright Moon castle, Yara's eyes were locked on a particularly fat bluebird hopping along the branch just a few short feet away. Unaware of her presence, it chases an errant beetle, scurrying for it's life towards the small knoll in the trunk. Yara almost laughs; the hunter now the hunted. Her tail swishes silently behind her in excitement, her teeth noiselessly chattering in anticipation, claws gripping the cold marble sill. The night air is perfectly still as she tenses her arms, readying herself.

Finally, finally the bird turns away, distracted, already assessing the other side of the branch for another bug, and Yara leaps. A lurch, and she is no longer moving towards her prize, she is frozen, she is moving backwards, and the bird has finally noticed her and flees in a chaotic flap of wings, and she claws wantonly at the air before her but she is still moving backwards, a lithe arm wrapped around her middle, pulling her back, back off the sill and into the castle and down to the glistening floor.

Yara's ears twitch in displeasure, as her mother's rough tongue pointedly licks the top of her head and behind her ears. Her whole head is pushed about by the motion, so great is the ferocity of her mother's grooming, but before she could complain of her ruined hunt, her bath paused and a preemptive Catra warned "I know you were not going to eat that, and you KNOW what mama would've said about you leaving dead birds in other people's houses." 

"But-"

"We can go to the Whispering Woods tomorrow and hunt some rabbits while mama is working, how about that?"

Yara considered the offer as her bath continued, pale blonde ears folded in annoyance.

"I thought mama wanted me to stay and do a lesson with Princess Entrapta tomorrow?" Yara inquired innocently, her smirk not visible to her mother behind her.

Catra doesn't need to see the smirk to see right through her daughter.

"Oh please, I know you just sit there and tune out while Entr-" Catra's words catch, remembering the respectful politeness she and (mostly) Adora were dutifully attempting to instill " _ Princess _ Entrapta goes on and on about wires and machines. I'll tell her to leave you some homework. We can go hunting, but you  _ will  _ do the homework."

Yara's ears flick in annoyance. Busted. She thoroughly enjoyed the four hours to play on her holopad while Entrapta monologued, but at least she would get to go and have fun in the forest.

"Okay" Yara finally responded, ducking under her mother's small but strong arm to escape any more grooming.

Catra smiled. This had been Adora's idea, of course; a way to get Yara to focus on her lessons and give her an outlet. She was Adora's child, after all; crawling up the walls (and tearing birds apart) without an outlet for her to push herself and focus her energy. She had always been smart, and excelled in her lessons, but in the absence of Bow's father's (her usual tutors), had become more and more of a threat to the local wildlife of Bright Moon.

"It's a normal phase" Catra had assured Adora, disposing of the fifth rodent that week found in Yara's bedroom. "She's learning how to take care of herself"

Adora looked crushed, her eyes welling with tears quickly blinked away. "But- but she's only 9 years old! She doesn't need to take care of herself, we-"

"I know, my darling. She'll still be our baby for a long time to come, but she is also a Magicat and is growing into her claws. She'll hunt everything she can catch for a few months and then she'll get bored and stop. We just need to keep her busy."

Adora had nodded solemnly, and written on their calendar (Yeah, Catra lived by a shared calendar now) "CATRA+YARA HUNTING" over a few days of her next trip to Bright Moon.

In Bright Moon castle, Yara had scampered off to play elsewhere, leaving Catra standing by the windowsill. The kingdom was beautiful now, lush and overflowing with life. Even she could appreciate the view. 

The incredibly bold and admittedly juicy bluebird returned to the branch, and Catra's tail twitched.

"You're awfully cocky for being finger food ripe for the picking"

The bird turns and tilts its head at her.

That was it. Catra jumped towards the sill, hissing, the bird flying away in another satisfying bustle of feathers. She wouldn't stand for such disrespect by such a self-aggrandizing appetizer.

"Is this what you've been doing today?" A familiar voice teases from behind her, it's tone tired yet merry.

Catra whips around to gleefully embrace her wife, arms roping around the back of her strong (and sweaty) neck, leaning in for a long-overdue kiss. The feeling of Adora's lips on hers settles the little ache in her chest that starts up every time Adora goes out on a mission without her. Since the birth of their daughter, opportunities for fun (and safe) family missions are rare, and more often than not Catra finds herself staying behind with Yara when She-Ra's powers are needed somewhere in the kingdom. Not that she minds, really. Adora never went on missions for more than a day any more, and Catra's little family was the center of her universe.

Catra was a natural mother. Even Adora had struggled a little with baby Yara, but Catra always seemed to know what she needed, when she was hungry, when she needed to be groomed. A picture hung above her dresser at home of Adora attempting to groom baby Yara like Catra had shown her, her soft tongue doing little but wetting the infant's head; a favorite picture of the pair if she ever had one.

Adora's arms wrapped around Catra's waist, breaking the kiss to press her nose into Catra's neck.

"I missed you, baby" Adora mumbled into soft fur.

"I missed you too" Catra murmured back, a hand idly scratching Adora's scalp, sweaty and dusty.

"Want to take a bath together?" Catra suggested, Adora instantly perking up at the idea.

"Yeah. Yes. Absolutely." Adora nodded with gusto, already working on removing her incredibly worn red jacket as the two started towards their temporary bedroom in Bright Moon.

"Where's Yara?" Adora inquired, struggling with the sleeves of her shirt as the two undressed in their chambers. 

"Playing in the castle" Catra responded absentmindedly, unzipping the back of her leotard.

"Baby! She was supposed to be in bed an hour ago!" Adora chastised her, turning around with her hands on her hips, shirt stuck around her neck and one sleeve still on.

Catra stepped closer to help her wife out of her 'uniform'. Of course, there was no Horde now, no uniform to speak of, but Adora had maintained a pretty much identical outfit for the last 14 years since the Horde's downfall. Catra already envisioned that same red jacket on Adora's shoulders as they sat on rocking chairs out the front of a retirement home.

The thought made her smile as Adora was finally freed from her shirt, standing in her sports bra and underwear before Catra, exasperated.

"I know she's a night owl like you, but she's always grouchy in the mornings if she isn't in bed by 10"

"I'm not grouchy in the mornings because I have a 10 in my bed every night" Catra smirks, taking in the familiar hardened muscle of Adora's arms and shoulders, fingertips lavishing in the perfect balance of soft flesh and sinewy strength of her abdomen.

"That doesn't even-...I just think it's important." Adora pleads, hands gripping Catra's hips decisively, despite her attempt to refocus the conversation.

Catra kisses her again, slow and tender, and Adora's bedtime concerns melt away. It's a weekend after all.

"C'mon mama bear, let's get in the bath" Catra purrs lovingly, Adora's thumbs stroking idle circles on her cheeks, holding her face with all the gentleness in the world.


	2. Pre-baby moments

The situation felt odd to say the least. Entrapta, one hair tendril hovering a probe over the swell of Catra's belly, the other pressing buttons on a strange machine that showed odd, grey blurs.

Catra's small hand rested in Adora's own, a little clammy with nerves. This was scary, Adora knew that. Entrapta had told them that this scan would determine whether or not the pregnancy was viable, and whether or not she and Catra really, truly, were actually having this baby. 

Adora had been trying hard not to get her hopes too high, after all, this whole thing had been experimental. Egg harvesting, implantation, 'manipulated insemination'. Adora didn't really 'get' much of it. She and Catra had come to Entrapta wanting to start a family, and a year later, it may have just worked. There had been a few false starts, but they had made it this far….Adora was...cautiously optimistic.

"Oh my! It appears to have two heads!"

"WHAT?!" Catra screeched, sitting bolt upright from her position on the makeshift exam table.

"No wait, false alarm! Just one head. And some weird little things on top of it. Not sure what that is but I'm sure we can get it removed!" Entrapta corrected with equal fervor, a tendril of purple hair pushing Catra back down, fingers twisting dials and slightly changing the shape of the grey blobs on the screen.

"Ears…" Adora whispered. 

"What?" Entrapta blurted, eyes unmoving from the grainy image on the screen.

"Ears." Adora said, louder. "Magicat ears." She smiled.

Catra's whole face lit up at that, straining to see the grainy screen without sitting up.

"You can see the ears?" She asked quietly, her excitement palpable.

"Does that mean-"

"SHHHHHH Just a minute Catra, I need to calibrate the wavelength to auscultate the heartbeat."

Catra squeezed Adora's hand tightly.

A loud screech rung across the dark lab of Dryl, and Adora reached over instantly to cover Catra's sensitive cat ears from the noise. Entrapta twisted another few dials and the pitch warped wildly until the sound was a barely audible ring in Adora's ears.

Then, quietly, they heard it, like a little drum played at the quietest volume imaginable.

A grin spread across Entrapta's face as she slowly turned another dial up. 

Thump thump thump thump thump thump.

Adora's mouth hung open; joy and shock. There it was. Loud and clear it thumped away, in the background the quiet and slower beat of what she assumed was Catra's heart.

Catra turned to Adora, tears welling in her eyes; her expression was the same awestruck joy as Adora's.

"They're okay…." She whispered.

"Yes! The fetus is VERY much viable and developing appropriately! Also, it's a boy!"

Catra's joyful laughter rang out like bells to Adora. "We're having a son!" She giddily replied, quickly wiping the dampness from her cheeks.

"No wait, that's a tail. It's a girl!" Entrapta corrected with certainty.

Catra's ears flicked, her mouth opening in preparation for sending a harsh barb Entrapta's way. She felt Adora's hand holding hers and decided against it, her retort dissolving at her lips.

"Well... I guess we're having a daughter, then!" She said instead.

\--

If Adora had been protective before, now she was a fearsome mama bear. No touching Catra's belly without asking, no sending her on missions, no interrupting her, no stressing her out. Adora was by her side as much as humanly possible, and would call her every hour on her holopad when away on an absolutely necessary mission.

Catra liked this side of her. She was Adora's, she was carrying Adora’s baby. She was hers, hers, hers, hers, always Adora’s. 

And her feet hurt.

The swell of her belly had grown greatly in the last months, and Catra found it more and more difficult to be her normal, agile self. Now, she needed help getting down the stairs from Adora. Accepting help had always been hard, but with Adora, it came easily. She mewled in Adora’s ear late at night when she was craving berries or cake or chocolate, and to her credit Adora always sprang into action and set off to meet her wife’s needs.

Catra’s other needs, however, had not been properly met. Adora had been...hesitant, to say the least about giving Catra what she, pretty clearly, had been asking for. At first, Catra feared with her growing belly that maybe Adora no longer found her attractive (where were these thoughts coming from? She had never thought such things before, and knew Adora was not like that).

Until, of course, she borrowed Adora’s holopad and saw her attempting to scour the First Ones database for information..by searching ‘Dangerops prangent sex...will it hurt baby top of head??’. How had Adora gone through the same amount of schooling as her, and still not be able to spell. Or write. Or understand basic biology. Catra had to laugh; Adora was a jock through and through, a heart of gold and a brain of...bravery.

She would most certainly be remedying this.


	3. Babies are Hard

"What's that, diaper? You're begging for mercy? As you wish. Your end will be swift and painless, but another will rise in your stead. Such is the cycle of Baby." Adora nods gravely.

"Isn't it Yara? Mama's got you, she's got your changing SO down, she does it so quick she's breaking records. Using better techniques for maximum efficiency. Bam! Done! Okay Catra she's ready for lunch!" Adora yelled to the next room.

Catra, walking in from the kitchen, examined their infant daughter with a single raised brow.

Tiny Yara, covered in downy pale fur, wriggled uncomfortably in her diaper which had been...looped around her abdomen and a single leg (her tiny baby butt still uncovered) and fastened with...a knot? 

"Adora...what...IS that?"

Adora, blissfully unaware of the dryness in Catra's tone responded with preening sincerity; "Well I figured out a more efficient way to do up her diapers so she's got a better range of motion and you can change faster. You just have to-"

"Her butt is out." Was Catra's only response. It seemed to halt Adora's thoughts in their tracks as she picked up Yara and turned her around, confirming that was, indeed, a bare baby booty and a little kitten tail staring back at her.

"Heh. Small snag. I'll just. I can just, uhm, like, adjust...this part…" Adora laid Yara back on the table and attempted to move the diaper to cover her rear, but in doing so, untied the knot holding the whole nightmare together, and tore the material top to bottom.

"Hm." She noted, code for 'well, fuck' in her newly cleaned-up child-approved dictionary.

Attempting to avoid the issue entirely, Adora started to slip Yara's chubby baby legs back into her onesie, lips pursed in mild anxiety. She was floundering, but Catra didn't need to know that.

"Adora."

Too late.

Adora turned around slowly, mouth frozen in a guilty smile.

"Here, I'll show you again" Catra consoled. If she was annoyed, not a drop of it showed.

Adora's face fell. She hated failing almost as much as she hated...well, failing. That was like, The Worst Thing. Especially when she was failing Catra. And Yara. And technically even Melog by proxy of failing Catra. She was failing her entire tiny little family and she was the worst parent ever.

"Did you see that time?" Catra checked, finishing a perfectly done diaper change.

Adora nodded hastily. 

'Fuck. I'll have to watch another video.'

Catra was so naturally good at this, It wasn't fair. Neither of them had grown up around babies (in fact, Netossa and Spinerella's son was the first baby Adora had ever met), or learned anything about babies, or children, or anything about caring for a family for that matter. And yet, despite all that, Catra was a natural. She was born to be a mom. She knew exactly what Yara needed, and when she needed it. Adora would be wracking her brain attempting to aggressively rock the little half-Magicat to sleep, and then Catra would walk in, deduce immediately she was hungry, and nurse her into a calmed state in a matter of minutes.

Adora just didn't get it. 'It' being babies. Yara was only a month old, and already Adora knew she would never love anything more in the world than this little creature that had been the bump on Catra's belly one day, and a living, breathing, crying, sleeping, pooping, gurgling baby the next. Their baby. It seemed too crazy to be true; the fact that it WASN'T magic, crazier still.

Adora was already impatient for Yara to talk; maybe then Adora wouldn't struggle so much to understand her wishes.

\--

"Hungry? You're hungry? Nod if you're hungry."

Yara gurgled and then made a surprised "Ba!" sound, pleasing herself so greatly she made a big, toothless smile.

"I don't know if that's a yes or a no. I know you can't really talk yet so just nod. Milk? You want milk? Nod like this:"

Adora rapidly bobbed her head in an exaggerated nodding motion. 3 month old Yara gawked, wide-eyed, at the odd display.

Yara reached a tiny hand up towards Adora, and Adora almost teared up.

"Me? You want your mama?" Adora leaned in, overflowing with love, eyes sparkling, reveling the feeling of a tiny baby hand touching her cheek, tiny baby fingertips, tiny baby claws, SHARP TINY BABY CLAWS IMPALING HER CHEEK.

Adora, eyes now welling with tears for a different reason, frantically attempted to remove Yara's little needle talons from where they were embedded in her cheek, as Yara laughed and raised her other hand of divine reckoning to Adora's other cheek. 

Catra eventually walked in on Adora, hovering over Yara, frozen with 2 sets of little claws stuck in her cheeks.

Catra easily retracted Yara's claws for her, and went to grab a cotton ball to disinfect the little wounds on Adora's face 

"You just have to squeeze the last knuckle a little and the claw usually pops back as a reflex" she murmured, gently dabbing the last of the little prickmarks.

Adora hung her head limply, allowing Catra to move an errant blonde hair back behind her ear.

"What's wrong, Adora?" Catra inquired, worried.

Adora almost said everything; how inadequate she felt, as a parent, as a wife right now, how Catra had to come to her rescue every time she messed something up with Yara, how she was sorry, how she felt terrible, how she was trying, how she didn't know why she wasn't as good as Catra…

Instead, she just dove into a deep hug, letting herself hide in Catra's neck for just a brief moment, to allow herself to fail, to screw up, and to be okay in Catra's arms.

Catra nuzzled the top of her head gently, claws lightly scratching her scalp just-so, something that always helped Adora relax.

"You're doing just fine" Catra murmured, seemingly reading Adora's mind without a word.

"I don't want to...screw up." Adora sniffled, trying to hold back the tears that seemed to be fighting their way out of her body.

The 'Yara' was wordless. They both knew it. Adora didn't want to screw Yara up, in the ways that the Fright Zone, and Shadow Weaver, and the war had traumatized them both. She wanted to be the very best parent in the world, and every time she failed a diaper change, or couldn't make Yara happy, she felt the crushing weight of failure; failing Yara.

Adora sobbed openly now, gripping Catra tightly, snot and tears running into the soft fur of her wife's neck.

Catra rubbed circles on her back, watching Yara of Adora's shoulder, who seemed very puzzled that someone else could cry besides her.

"It's okay, Adoda. Let it all out." Catra soothed; lessons from Perfuma coming through in the importance of expressing your emotions.

Adora wailed louder, and Yara was taken aback, watching in shock from her baby chair.

Eventually, Adora managed to calm herself down, looking pathetically up at Catra, eyes puffy and red.

"You-...do you...do you think I'm an okay mom?" Adora asked in a quiet voice, almost afraid of Catra's reply.

"I think you're the best mom, and you're doing a great job. Yara thinks so too! Don't you Yara?"

Catra, outside Adora's view, pulled a silly face at Yara, who responded with a joyous squeal, which seemed to instantly cure Adora's emotional state.

"Oh my god! She responded to you! She does understand!!” Adora practically leapt out of Catra’s arms, scooping up Yara and peppering loving kisses to her forehead.

“You’re mama’s little genius! I knew you were smart!” Adora fawned proudly.

Yara gurgled with joy at the affection, turning to glance at Catra, who gave her a sparkling smile, and a knowing wink.

\---

“Adora? Darling?” Catra called through the house, having just arrived home from a brief trip to the former-Fright Zone to be present for the ‘official re-opening’ of the kingdom, now that renovations were mostly complete.

Only her own voice echoed back in the quiet dark of the house. Sunset was an hour or two ago, but it seemed Adora hadn’t turned any lights on.

“Adoooooorrraaaa?” She called again, placing her pack down on the table and wandering through the kitchen and into the living room.

There, sitting reclined on the sofa chair was Adora, shirtless, fast asleep, with an empty baby bottle duct-taped to her sports bra, and a sleeping Yara in her lap. Yara was gnawing her emerging fangs on the bottle’s nipple, even while asleep, and Adora’s arms cradled her protectively, despite her slumped head and loud snoring.  
Catra felt like she was about to explode with love. She wasn’t really sure what was going on with the contraption Adora had set up, though...maybe something about skin-to-skin contact, or trying to make Yara think she was nursing Catra? Catra smiled. Adora didn’t need to ‘fool’ their little one of anything, she knew Adora was her mama, and always happily bottle-fed with her (even though she often refused when Catra tried).

In an earnest attempt not to make a sound, Catra tip-toed back to the kitchen to grab her holopad (thanks, Arrow boy), and snap a picture of mother and daughter. The click of the camera, however, was far louder than she anticipated, and Adora’s head snapped up with a start, Yara only nosing deeper into her mama’s arms.

“Catra?” Adora murmured, still in the haze of sleep.

“Hi, mama bear” Catra purred gently, “I’m home.”


End file.
